Public Protector report: President's response a wasted opportunity

Yesterday President Zuma missed a golden opportunity, in finally breaking his deafening silence on Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's report into the Police lease deal, to reassure the country of his government's commitment to accountability, and its support and recognition of the authority and mandate of the Public Protector's Office.

Instead of explaining what action he is going to take to implement the findings of the report, the President seems to hope that,  by reassuring the country that he is not friends with Mr Roux Shabangu, we will overlook the real issue, which is that the Public Protector has found two senior members of his government, National Police Commissioner Bheki Cele and Public Works Minister Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde, guilty  of conduct that was improper, unlawful and amounted to maladministration.

His statement that he is "following due process"  and that Government " ... will not act without interrogating information placed before it" comes across as stonewalling. It should not be necessary for him to spend any significant amount of time on interrogating information produced by the Public Protector - to do so undermines the integrity and authority of her office.

The President has had the first report since February this year. That report stated quite clearly that unlawful actions had been committed.  The second report, released three weeks ago, confirmed these findings. The President has therefore known for some time what the outcome would be. How much longer does he need to "follow processes", and what processes is he following?

The President's statement does nothing to clarify why former Public Works Minister Geoff Doidge was replaced by Minister Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde, and why she proceeded with the Pretoria lease deal in contravention of an undertaking given by her predecessor to the Public Protector.

South Africa needs to hear what the President is going to do about the report - the fact that it is taking five months to process is inexplicable, and does nothing to convince us that he is serious about government accountability. The Public Protector has asked the President to do the right thing - now is his opportunity to do just that, and to do so without further delay.

Statement issued by Debbie Schafer MP, DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, August 3 2011

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